Generic bio-inventory of functional soil microbial diversity in permanent grassland ecosystems across management and climate gradients

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Frank Rasche
• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Plants and Ecosystems ; Soil Sciences
• Term: from 2016 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317958025

The current European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the European Habitats Directive for 2014 to 2020 point towards an increased agricultural and ecological importance of permanent and extensively managed grassland systems (PEGS). BIOINVENT introduces an innovative, science-based research approach to close remaining knowledge gaps on the efficiency of this agro-ecological scheme to enhance above- and below-ground biodiversity to profit from their support functions to secure ecosystem services (provision function). The pan-European study scale of BIOINVENT ranging from the Azores to northern Sweden with sub-tropical and boreal climates, respectively, is predestined for yielding a profound understanding of interdependent effects of grassland management (e.g., intensive vs. extensive) and agro-climatic distinctions on soil microbial dynamics and their consequences for central ecosystem services (e.g., support and regulation functions) (Theme 1 of the current BiodivERsA call). BIOINVENT applies a concerted 2-stream approach. In the Research Stream, all partners apply complementary and process-oriented research activities on fields provided by farmers and in controlled field experiments allowing for a spatial assessment of soil microbial diversity and its functional potential across European grasslands. This is a crucial complement to earlier pan-European soil inventories that did not address permanent grasslands and their soil microbial functions. The participatory Outreach Stream is simultaneously initialised to engage stakeholders already at the project start (collaborate, involve) and to disseminate project outcomes (e.g., BIOINVENT tool-box) in an adjusted manner to various stakeholders ranging from non-governmental organisations to decision makers at national and European level (consult, inform). BIOINVENT contributes greatly to on-going EU-incentives to develop future-oriented management and monitoring objectives to reach optimal protection and utilisation of soil biodiversity and its contribution to various ecosystem services in permanent grassland ecosystems including PEGS that might be applicable to other agro-ecosystems.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland
• Partner Organisation: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT); Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FRCT); Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF); Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA); The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS)
• Cooperation Partners: Professorin Dr. Cristina Cruz; Professor Dr. Andreas Lüscher; Dr. Linda-Maria Mårtensson; Professor Dr. Luís Silva